ENERGY

Excerpt from paper titled "COMPREHENSIVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AS A POTENTIAL COUNTER-HEGEMONIC STRATEGY: Is Iran’s Strategy Counter-Hegemonic?". [Full Text PDF with notes & references]

The questions regarding variations in social development, economic progress, and political empowerment have produced a voluminous literature over the past century, and because of the complexity of these issues, much important reflection will continue well into the future. In the early 1980s, a United Nations’ Commission coined the term “sustainable development” as a public statement regarding the deteriorating socio-economic, political, and environmental conditions. Since then, the use and abuse of the term has rendered it dubious and almost irrelevant.

This paper proposes Comprehensive Sustainable Development (CSD) as a substitute in the hope that re-conceptualization of the term would incorporate critiques of various manifestations of capital’s hegemony – its control over science and technology, particularly in the contemporary period, by way of restricting homegrown, national technological development. It is argued that in the pursuit of its interests contemporary global capitalism, as a continuation of the 19th and the 20th century colonialism/imperialism, is resorting to the policy of imperialism through the implementation of dependent industrialization (imported technology) rather than CSD...

Diversification of energy sources would allow to ultimately reduce dependency and the elimination of dependency is one of the requirements of CSD. Even if the global south receives a small percentage of their energy needs from new and renewable sources, it could encourage the rise of home-grown companies operating alongside the public sector. Since antiquity Iran has regarded itself and has been considered by others as a civilized nation/empire. The national culture has long considered that it had a duty to transcend the interests of isolated private individuals in favor of the collective public interest.

Today Iran wishes to develop as a model culture of collective empowerment having the goal of national (and indeed universal) human liberation from the yoke of hegemonic powers. Iran possesses great possibilities in its people and its cultural/historical as well as its physical landscapes to narrow the gap between the potential and the actual development. Domestically in particular, it must transcend any narrow economic development which aims at private wealth generation for any comprador elite through collaboration with the leaders of capitalist globalization. Its national policy must reject the requirement as do most economies forced by globalizing agents to enhance privatization, for the labor force to make sacrifices without requiring the rich to do proportionately more. It must strive instead to create an environment in which the traditional Iranian civic ethos is reinvigorated.

Its regional imperative is cooperation; it is essential that a regional integration plan devotes a large portion of its attention to meeting the rising demand for energy resources which are easily transportable, efficient, equitable, and environmentally sound. It is within this context that mutual security in all respects is assured. Indeed as CSD requires, a regional alliance must be the basis and the context, since sustainability is not merely a national issue and cannot be implemented independent of its immediate surroundings. It is to be nourished through its ability to transcend individualistic approaches.

The global imperatives are the sharing of technology with the rest of the Global South, but also extending the life of the current proven oil reserves no matter what the size of potential reserves may be. A diversification of energy sources must be at the top of the agenda. Diversification reduces vulnerability, dependency, and deprivation. It is through diversity of energy sources that a nation such as Iran can sustain other production processes utilizing various sources of energy. Comprehensive sustainable development can make a great contribution to human liberation and development only if it begins and ends with social justice as a guiding principle.

On the political front, CSD would incorporate radical democracy as a force directing the process. Only through a social justice orientation can environmental degradation be reversed, basic necessities be provided for, and a culture of collective well-being be reinforced. It is in this context that racism, economic exploitation, environmental degradation, and dependent development/industrialization – the building blocks of hegemony – are removed. It is through CSD and its regard for the environment that the monopolization of technological knowledge can be broken and the right to technological invention and innovation is re-claimed. But what are the components of a strategy that can retrieve these rights to a CSD-oriented technology?

Let’s examine the case of Iran’s nuclear program – often equated in the propaganda organs of hegemonic powers with a “nuclear weapons program.” Iran’s nuclear case has brought to the surface the hypocrisy of international agencies in thrall to the powerful few on the global stage.

Nuclear energy is essential in the Iranian context as indeed in all places where concentrated energy is needed. But it has to be as part of a comprehensive and long term energy program. Alternative (non-fossil) sources of energy are at the moment – with the exception of nuclear and hydroelectric power – in their early stages of mass production and consumption. Solar, wind, tidal, and biomass sources continue to evolve, but the magnitude of production along with transportability and the initial capital costs have made nuclear and hydro more appealing.

For instance, even if Iran gets a small percentage of its electricity from each of these renewable sources, it will be in a position to diversify home-grown energy sources while removing enormous dependency and restrictions in confronting hegemony. Iranians are the pioneers of wind energy as seen in various cities, but notably Yazd and Kashan. Today, its drive toward diversification of energy (even if criticized with good intentions) must continue. The private sector in Iran is not yet conducive to spearheading the drive toward alternative sources of energy. Public ownership must initiate this and can hasten its development.

James Howarth (2008) argues that for the most part Iran’s energy policy is determined by political concerns. Iran is said to be making a mistake in pursuing nuclear rather than solar and wind energy and traditional fossil fuel. Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserve (measurable amounts) and perhaps in terms of potential reserve (amounts that are not discovered but thought to exist). It has the fourth largest oil reserve and perhaps much greater potential reserve. Current world consumption occurs at the rate of over 25 billion barrels per year. With a proven petroleum reserve of one trillion barrels, this will last 40 years at the current rate, and consumption is likely to increase greatly. Adding to this eventuality is the very uneven distribution of this resource and the consequences for the planet.

Iran will continue to suffer three problems that is suffering from now: pollution/carbon emissions which have increased by 240 percent since 1980 from 33.1 metric tons to almost 80 metric tons in 1998 and to 139 metric tons in 2000 (Karegar, et. al., 2004:1); reliance on fossil fuel as a source of earning foreign exchange; and greater demand for energy due to population growth. Iran’s domestic oil consumption is about 1.2 million barrels per year and exports 2.3 million barrels (cited in Karegar, et. al., 2004). It is estimated that if Iran’s domestic demand for oil continues to rise, by year 2010, its export of oil will decrease by 50 percent. Iran heavily subsidizes the price of electricity and given its reliance on revenue, it is absolutely essential to develop its renewable energy sources more vigorously.

Since 1994 when Iran installed its first modern wind turbines, particularly in Roodbar and Manjil, and its planned building of nuclear reactors, Iran has been expanding its capacity to increase electricity from renewable sources including solar and wind, and through its planned building of more nuclear reactors. The United States leads the world with an annual output of 9149 megawatts followed by India (4434), China (1266), Japan (1078) and 99 for Korea. Iran’s geothermal potential, particularly in Damavand, Khoy, and Maku are promising sources of energy with adequate infrastructure (Alternative Energy Iran: Windpower for the North West. February 15, 2005).

Iran has been carrying out a set of expert-level studies to set up seven wind power plants in three northwestern provinces. If the results of the studies confirm that the target regions are right for the purpose, the projects will be immediately started under private sector management. Arastou Sadeqi, the director of the wind and water energies department in the Iranian New Energies Organization had earlier said that “the government has removed basic problems” [the absence of private sector partnership] (Alternative Energy Iran…., 2005).

With a youthful population of 70 million and a fast-growing economy, energy consumption is rising by around 7 percent annually. Iran estimates that it may need capacity to generate some 90 GW by 2020, from about 31 GW at present. About three quarters of current electricity needs come from gas-fired power stations, and the rest from hydroelectricity or oil. What Iran does not want to see is the reversal of its position as an exporter of oil to an importer of oil as was recently experienced by Indonesia. Indonesia recently withdrew from OPEC as a net exporter of oil and became a net importer. Demand for oil will grow to 116 million barrels a day by 2030, an increase in energy demand making 45 percent of total energy growth (Alternative Energy 2008).

Canceling subsidies will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but Fossil fuel subsidies are in some cases necessary until other means of energy are made available. Iran, for example, heavily subsidizes fossil fuel, particularly gasoline, for domestic consumption. A large percentage of Iranians could not purchase gasoline without subsidies. Recent attempts at conversion to natural gas as a substitute is the first step toward alternatives. For the most part fossil fuel subsidies around the globe are a political decision to favor a very prosperous sector of the economy—the petroleum industry and related fields.

For instance, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies in India, aimed at getting fuel to poor households, totaled $1.7 billion in the first half of 2008. But the LPG subsidies are mainly benefiting higher-income households. Smarter subsidies such as tax breaks, financial incentives, or other market mechanisms could generate benefits for the economy and environment if properly targeted (United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP). This pointed to subsidies promoting wind energy in Germany and Spain aimed at helping to shift from fossil fuels. Well-devised subsidies in Chile had spread rural electrification to 90 percent of the population from 50 percent in 12 years, it said. Nations such as China, India, and Brazil have so far won almost all of the 3,500 projects designed to develop alternative/renewable sources of energy. Therefore, subsidies could help the global south and the environment in confronting their problems.

A report titled “The Price of Power,” by the New Economic Foundation (NEF) states that the costs of natural disasters linked to global warming reached $60 billion in 2007, with the warming triggered by the burning of fossil fuels -- coal, oil and gas. The report says a single year's worth of World Bank spending on fossil fuel projects could be spent instead on small-scale solar installations in sub-Saharan Africa providing electricity for 10 million people. And a year's worth of global fossil fuel subsidies could "comfortably" pay off sub-Saharan Africa's entire international debt burden, leaving billions of dollars to spare (“The Price of Power”, NEF).

The report says these subsidies amount conservatively to about $235 billion a year and they distort the global economy, damage the environment and hold back the development of renewable sources. Andrew Simms of NEF points out, as long as dependency on fossil fuels continues, “corruption and violence,” climatic changes, and increasing poverty are expected. And the solution to these problems lies in the removal of that dependency. If indeed the world is serious about reducing the greenhouse gasses and further destruction of the environment, then the renewable energy and the technology of harnessing it must be made available to all. Sharing of the technology for an abundant source of energy would reduce hegemony and would move the world closer to achieving CSD. Yet for the control of fossil fuel, more wars will be fought as we are witnessing now and the environmental degradation and the subjugation of people will continue until there are unified forces equipped with technical know how and homegrown technology.

NUCLEAR TESTING AND THE ENVIRONMENT: The Non-Fossil Means of Environmental Destruction

On July 16, 1945 the United States tested the first nuclear weapon in the desert of New Mexico, at the Trinity site. Between 1945 and 1996, the world’s nuclear powers tested over 2000 nuclear devices (the U.S. conducted 1032 between 1945-1992; the Soviet Union 715 between 1945-1990; England 45 between 1952-1991; France 210 between 1960 and 1996; China 45 between 1964-1996; India and Pakistan have conducted two tests (ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/history of nuclear testing). Several tests have been conducted by Israel, which possess up to 200 warheads; it also has a second strike capability via German-supplied submarines (dolphins) capable of lunching missiles with nuclear warheads. Israel is the most secretive nuclear state whose relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and other WMDs goes back to 1948.

The question however, is Israel any safer? An attack on Israel’s nuclear facilities in the Negev desert either by missile or other means would contaminate a big portion of Eastern Mediterranean Sea resulting in thousands of agonizing deaths. It seems that the logical policy for all of those countries that are truly concerned about self preservation to get rid of WMDs of all sorts once and for all. But hegemonic policies rely heavily on these types of weapons for their implementation. And this is precisely why new generations of nuclear weapons are being made.

The French conducted their first atmospheric nuclear test, Gerboise Bleue (Blue Jerboa), on February 13, 1960 in the French Sahara, during the slaughter of Algerians (1954-62). This took place at 40 km south of the Sahara in Mali. France tested a hydrogen bomb in French Polynesia. France posses the third largest stockpile of nuclear warheads (350). In 2006 Jacque Chirac declared that as a matter of policy the French would use nuclear weapons against states using terrorism against France (“France and the Weapons of Mass Destruction,” Wikidepia; “Types of Nuclear Weapons Tests,”CTRTO Prepartory Commission. Wikidepia.org.). The United States has used the bomb and now is developing a new class of smaller nuclear weapons for tactical use. Israel has likewise publicly threatened that they would “turn Iran into a radioactive wasteland” and “bomb them back to the stoneage.”

Novel ideas of dealing with an imaginary threat! (“Israel and the weapons of Mass destruction” Wikidepia). Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain arrogantly rephrased the Beach Boys’ song entitled Barbara Ann to “bomb Iran” (“bomb bomb bomb eye-ran”) and he was sadly and pathetically cheered by a gang of Iranians serving the same interest as Senator MacCain and who are feeding from the same trough, by the Israel Lobby and some Arab States of Persian Gulf. The napalms of America or Israel dropped on Iran will not alter or change anything except to set back the accomplishments of Iranian people temporarily. These are the contexts that Iran could use an effective public relations aiming at preserving what Iranian people have accomplished and trying to expand their future opportunities. In a world of corporate media with allegiances to the fag of capital, words deemed critical of capital and all of its agencies and institutions will be taken out of context, twisted and blown out of proportions. And it is imperative to carefully weigh the spoken words in a world where the design is to keep the public dumb and scared.

On February 1, 2007, President Chirac of France commented on the nuclear ambitions of Iran, hinting at possible nuclear countermeasures from Israel: “Where will it drop it, this bomb? On Israel? It would not have gone 200 meters into the atmosphere before Tehran would be razed” (Sciolino and Bennhold, Feb, 1, 2007). Iran and the rest of the world believe that Israel has close to two hundred nuclear warheads and a second strike capability, even though Israel has not admitted that it possesses weapons of mass destruction. As long as the NPT maintains a double standard in this regard, and further has no power to enforce on the signatories and/or non-signatories, proliferation will continue. How else do we account for the fact that there are “new generation” nuclear weapons, even if these are said to be for deterrence or for “limited” use?

The international concern over the contamination of the planet by the countries equipped with nuclear weapons goes back to the 1950s, beginning with the radiological disaster caused by the hydrogen bomb test in Marshall Islands. The Bravo test had many victims including U.S. servicemen and a Japanese fishing trawler. Even though there have been nuclear test ban treaties, France and China refused to join. France conducted its last atmospheric test in 1974. Radioactive contamination, nuclear waste disposal, and the use of depleted uranium in a weaponized form continue to be global threats.

CONCLUSION

Globalization, militarism, colonialism, imperialism, and the structure within which these forms of violence are taking place—contemporary capitalism—have created a tragic human and planetary condition. Measures taken to remedy these problems must delve into the causes. There are tens of millions of land mines around the world (80 countries in Africa and Asia alone) killing and maiming people around the world. The price of food has increased by 83 percent in the past three years. Over 1 billion people live on one dollar a day. One billion suffer from hunger and close to one billion are malnourished. Most surface water on the planet is polluted. Two to three billion have tuberculosis and half of billion have malaria every year mostly in Africa. Worldwide, 700 people die of malaria every hour and respiratory diseases along with the destruction of the environment kill millions.

As the advanced countries of the global north march forward, they devour resources much beyond their real needs and pollute the planet. Those who are lagging behind will continue to suffer a worsening condition. This process can be reversed only if the global south reaches a certain level of internal solidarity, values social justice, and practices radical democracy.

There are many countries in the global south such as Iran which are at the crossroads with respect to national aspirations. It is with a strong public support based on social justice, inclusion, respects for the rights of the citizens and radical democracy that can avert violent encounters. There are powerful global forces whose pursuit of their hegemonic interests will attempt to divert the attention from forging alliances toward overcoming hegemony. A healthy future world requires a global strategy for comprehensive sustainable development and all of its prerequisites. [Full Text PDF with notes & references]

AUTHOR
Dr. Mehdi S. Shariati, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Economics/Sociology at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

NOTE

The following provides a tentative list of Iranian companies (public and private) engaged in the development, production and export of alternative sources of energy.

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byN/byName.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/export/export.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/gov/gov.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/mfg/mfg.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/org/org.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/dist/dist.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/serv/serv.shtml

//energy.sourceguides.com/businesses/byGeo/byC/Iran/byB/wholesale/supplier.shtm